THE King and the Kings
Notes
Transcript
Kingship
Kingship
Today as we continue on in our sermon series on the Story of the Bible and our place in that story we come to something of a difficult period to understand. Today we will find that after the disastrous period of the Judges Israel decides that enough is enough and they want a strong man to rule over them—they want a king. For us though, this impulse is difficult to understand. In the United States, the very premise of our national government is precisely the opposite of this impulse. We were founded at a time when the concept of kingship by Divine Right was being questioned, when democracy was being explored, and where any claims to power were questioned. And fast-forwarding two hundred or so years, we find that we are still, in the main, a people that rejects rule by one person. We, in fact, perhaps are more like the people in the era of the Judges than those of the American Revolution. Do you remember the refrain that echoes through the last chapters of Judges? “At that time there was no king in Israel and everyone did what was right in their own eyes.” Jeesh, that sort of sounds like how we live here in America doesn’t it? “You can’t tell me what to do, I have my freedom! As long as it isn’t hurting anyone, why does it matter? Who are you to judge what I do?”
Eventually though, people tire of a moral vacuum. There comes a time in a society, no matter how free, no matter how tolerant, when the behavior of the people reach a level that even the people themselves cannot tolerate. The people wake up one day and take a good look around them and then they realize how bad things have gotten. Maybe, for the first time the behavior of the society has hit them personally. Maybe they have a moral awakening of their own. Whatever reason, society simply cannot tolerate anarchy any more than governments can.
And when this sense of moral anarchy hits a society there is often one of two reactions. First, and most ideally, the society itself steps in and polices itself. This occurs when people who have the respect of the citizenry make an appeal to move the society forward. I would argue that in our era we have had such prophetic figures. One that stands out to me is Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In the moral anarchy of the racial tensions of the 1960’s when the people tired of lynchings, separate but equal doublespeak, and the lingering effects of Jim Crow, Dr. King stood up as a figure that would unite the people against the moral evil of racism and segregation. And remarkably, his campaign for a moral awakening saw great fruit. Is it done, has the victory been won? No, not yet, but Dr. King set the country on a trajectory where we would no longer hide or tolerate the sin of racism by the government casting a blind eye, or worse, like much of the South, being complicit in its enforcement.
This, as I said, is the ideal—a person or group stepping forward in morally chaotic times to lead the people in a work of heart, an inner transformation of the society. But what happens when no one steps forward? What happens when that downward moral spiral keeps occurring? Well, history tells us that in those times a strong individual will seize this opportunity to shape society to his or her own will. This is the time when people seek out and tolerate tyranny. This is the time when dictators and despots can take the stage—and the people simply let them—so desperate are the people for order that they accept it in any shape it comes—even when it is tyrannical and authoritarian. Scripture says “that where there is no vision the people perish.” One could also say that where there is no moral compass, the people will work against their own interests to find one.
Kingship in Israel
Kingship in Israel
And today, in our next installment of God’s Story found in Scripture, we find these conditions on the ground. Remember a bit where we have been. I won’t go through the whole story since it should be becoming familiar to you now. But I’ll pick up with Abraham: Abraham and Sarah were to be new Adam and Eve figures to fill the promised land of Israel with sons and daughters. They did remarkably well. By the time of the book of Exodus the people had swelled to countless thousands. So much so that Pharaoh thought they were a threat and oppressed them. God raised up a family, Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to help deliver the people of God from slavery in Egypt. God himself led the people as they crossed the Red Sea. God gave the Covenant at Sinai wedding Israel and Yahweh together. Then God’s very presence came in their midst in the tabernacle, a renewed Garden of Eden. But Israel wasn’t quite ready to enter Canaan. So for forty years they were taught and tested by God. Finally, under Joshua they took the land that God had promised to give them. For a time things went well. But then they disobeyed God. God raised up people to rally the people morally and spiritually back to God. But over time, this people went from bad to worse and did what was right in their own eyes, indeed that is the refrain of the book of Judges, as we heard.
But then there is this strange little book of Ruth. Most people think that the only function of this story is to show how that even in dark times like the age of the Judges that there are good people. Boaz is a hero figure who rescues Ruth and Naomi. It’s part love story, part epic poem, part word of hope to people who are struggling.
But the book of Ruth is actually more than that. And to understand what I mean, we have to go to the end of the book. At the end of the book is this strange little genealogy. Now, most people, myself included, normally just skim or skip the genealogies in the Bible. Simply put, they’re boring and seemingly irrelevant to us now. But this little one in Ruth? It’s vitally important. For in this little obscure passage is found the hope of a king that would rule after God’s own heart. This is the genealogy that would lead us to King David, the paradigm of what a righteous king should look like in Israel.
Better Call Saul?
Better Call Saul?
But David wasn’t the first king of Israel though. No, as a matter of fact that honor goes to a man named Saul. But the road to kingship in Israel was not a smooth one. In the books of Samuel, we find the story of the establishment of the monarchy in Israel. It’s a very complex story so I’m going to do my best to summarize it here for you today.
The book of 1 Samuel opens with the birth of the title character. The man Samuel is one part prophet and one part Judge. In fact, Samuel is the last of the Judges and the one who would anoint the first two kings of Israel.
The people demand that Samuel appoint for them a king. Samuel is angry because he knows one fact that the people repeatedly forget: there already was a king in Israel. You see, God wanted Israel to be a Theocracy. In a Theocracy, the rule of the people is held solely by God. God was already the Great King of Israel. And yet the people kept saying “there is no king in Israel...” And then they ask, pester, nag, and beg for a human king.
At first, Samuel is livid. He tells them to go get lost. But then God steps in. God tells Samuel, in essence, it is not you that the people have rejected but me. The people don’t want God as king. They want to be like their neighbors who have strong men ruling them. They want a human king. And this time, God gives them exactly what they want.
God tells them that they are going to get Saul. Saul is tall and handsome. And for a people who tended to be on the short side (notice that the Israelites though the residents of Canaan were giants), a man of uncommon height set him apart physically. And the Bible stresses Saul’s physical appearance to show the vanity and wrongheaded motives of Israel. They were looking at the outside but God looks elsewhere.
And Saul’s reign is disastrous. The king of Israel was supposed to be a good shepherd over his people. To lead them in God’s ways by modeling obedience and godliness. But Saul couldn’t do that. He was fearful. He was rash. He was disobedient. He violated God’s word repeatedly to the point that God regretted making Saul king and God had Samuel anoint another to take his place.
This other person was not what one would expect. This person was the youngest son of a small town shepherd Jesse. David, the last of the sons born to Jesse demonstrates the principle of the younger ruling and the older being passed by that began in Genesis with Jacob and Esau. But David was different than Saul in other ways besides birth order and appearance. David’s heart was in the right place. David had the proper fear of the Lord. David put God first in his priorities at this time. And God sees to the heart of the matter.
And so there is struggle in Israel. The kingship has been taken away from Saul and his family and given to David. Saul repeatedly tries to kill David and fails. And David is given several opportunities to kill Saul but refrains each time by stating that he will do no harm to one that the Lord has anointed king. In the end, Saul falls in battle in a way that is less than glorious. After a time of unrest, David rules in Israel as uncontested king of Israel.
Is David Really Better
Is David Really Better
But David, right from the start has some problems that God points out. In 2 Samuel 7, David builds himself a fine palace. There is nothing morally wrong about this. In fact David feels a bit guilty because he has such a fine home and God still lives in a tent. So David plans to build a house for God, a temple. But God steps in and says “not so fast, you David are a man of blood you will not build me a house.” Instead, amazingly, God decides that he will build a house for David.
This passage is of vital importance for us to understand the subsequent history of Israel and also God’s promise that finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. God promises that there will always be a Son of David on the throne. That God will establish a house—a royal dynasty for David. This is another Covenant that God makes with God’s people, this time with their ruling house. From now own until the exile there will always be a Son of David on the throne.
And later, after Israel returns to the land, they expect that one born of David would come and rule over Israel. They were looking for Messiah, the one of David’s line that would restore the kingdom to Israel. That person was Jesus Christ, the Son of David who now fulfills this promise by ruling heaven and earth seated on the throne of God alongside the Father. We have a King in Israel now.
But I’m getting ahead of myself. While it all worked out in the end, there was long way to get there before we make the jump to Jesus. We need to look at David’s reign and determine if he was really better than Saul. Morally, I have to answer honestly that he actually was not much better. David sinned against God and his people repeatedly, even committing murder and testing God.
But there was one difference between the two of them, Saul and David. David was willing to humble himself and admit his faults. David demonstrated repentance when called on his sin. This, and only this trait—his penitence—is why David can be called a man after God’s own heart. It wasn’t his superior morality, his obedience, or his behavior, only his broken and contrite spirit that made him thus.
Solomon’s Wisdom and Lack Thereof
Solomon’s Wisdom and Lack Thereof
And so the kingship was established in Israel. David’s sons would reign in perpetuity. And the first transition of power occurs when David’s son Solomon takes the throne. Solomon’s reign begins gloriously. Famously, Solomon asks God not for more power or more wealth or for a long life, but for wisdom. And God not only grants Solomon wisdom but also power, wealth, and long life. Solomon’s wisdom is demonstrated in his arbitration of a dispute between two women who both claimed a son was theirs. He offered to cut the child in two and give each mother half. The real mother relented and said give it to the other! And Solomon knew that the real mother would protect her child. Thus Solomon’s reign starts well.
And what’s more, David’s desire to build God a house is fulfilled by Solomon. Solomon builds the Temple. This is the permanent place that God will dwell in Israel. Israel now had rest from her enemies and God would finally set up a permanent home in the land. No more wandering, no more tents. The Temple of Solomon would act like an umbilical cord between heaven and earth. Heaven and earth would meet like the mother’s body and that of her child right here in Jerusalem, the city of peace. Indeed, even Solomon’s name (in Hebrew Shlomo) means “peace.” And in our Chronicles passage for today we saw that Solomon dedicates the temple as a place where not just the kings but all Israel can restore their relationship with God when they sin. “If the people who are called by their name turn back to me with their whole heart, I will heal their land” that’s what God says. Some people try to directly apply this to the United States. Unfortunately, that’s an illegitimate interpretation. This was a word given specifically for Israel, the people of God. Not that God doesn’t want us to be penitent, but God didn’t give us this land in the same manner as he did Israel. Our nation is not in covenant with God in the same way as Israel, etc.
And so it seems that we have a story with a happy ending right? Israel has fulfilled all of it’s land objectives. It’s land area is the highest it will ever be under Solomon. God’s very presence dwells in Jerusalem and all appears well.
Until, that is, Solomon starts to get older and more successful. As Solomon accumulates wealth and fame, he makes marriage alliances with many foreign nations. And these foreign nations worship other gods. And eventually, Solomon himself sets up shrines and altars to these foreign gods and goddesses right in Israel. And in so doing the son of the King after God’s own heart leads his own people astray. God does not waste any time but tells Solomon that he has assured that the kingship would be broken. That the heir of David would now only rule over Judah. That ten whole tribes would be taken away from David’s line and the kingdom would be divided.
A Divided People
A Divided People
And under Solomon’s son Rehoboam this comes to be. A rival, confusingly named Jeroboam raises a rebellion and takes away the Northern part of the united kingdom of Israel. But important to know—this is actually God’s will. God has told Jeroboam that he may do as he is doing. Judah is being punished for her sins and Israel, the northern kingdom can be another kingdom in which God’s will is done on earth as in heaven.
Except that it doesn’t. Jereboam is scared that if the only worship center is in Jerusalem—in the southern Kingdom—that the people will eventually want the country to be reunited and they would rebel against him and kill him. So he sets up two golden calves as worship centers in Dan and Samaria (sound familiar? It should from Exodus 32).
And that is the unsatisfying place we are going to leave our story for today. Israel is in the land, God’s presence is in the Temple. But the nation is divided. The moral compass is malfunctioning. The Covenant is in jeopardy. What will the people do?